Sociedad Jose Marti

lunes, noviembre 13, 2017

"A Soviet Cleansing in Cuba."

A Soviet Cleansing in Cuba

The Russians used their experience at home to annihilate dissident peasants.

By

Mary Anastasia O’Grady

Wall Street Journal

Nov. 12, 2017

Most
Americans have never heard of the anti-Castro uprising in Cuba’s
Escambray Mountains, which began in 1959 and took Fidel and the Soviet
Union six years to put down. At the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik
Revolution, the episode is worth revisiting. If not for 400 Soviets sent
to Cuba under the command of the Red Army and the KGB in 1961, it is
unlikely that Castro would have prevailed.

What
happened in the Escambray pokes a giant hole in Castro’s narrative that
his revolution was a justified power grab supported by working-class
and rural Cubans. The fact is that when Cubans began to understand that
Fidel planned to replace Fulgencio Batista as the next dictator and to
impose communism, many rebelled. None fought harder than central Cuba’s guajiros—small land owners and tenant farmers.

Forty
years after Castro took power, a protégé named Hugo Chávez was elected
president of Venezuela and allowed to consolidate power. Today that
once-rich country is an authoritarian hellhole where toilet paper is a
luxury and malnutrition is widespread.

Venezuelans
did not see what was coming in part because of the failure of
historians, journalists, lawyers, academics and politicians throughout
the Americas to expose the atrocities committed in the 1960s against
the guajiros and other dissidents.

Castro
understood the importance of controlling the press, foreign as well as
domestic. He used that control to popularize his version of events. He
framed the resistance—those who rejected his communist takeover—as a
white, urban aristocracy unhappy because it was losing its privilege
under his new justice. Meanwhile, he wiped out whole farming communities
with Stalinesque ruthlessness, and he did it with guidance from the
Kremlin, which exported its experience in intelligence gathering and
repression.

Agapito
Rivera was born in 1937 in central Cuba, one of seven children in a
poor family that cut sugar cane on a large estate. He told me in an
interview in Miami earlier this year that when he first started cutting
cane he was so small that his older brother had to throw the shoots onto
the cart for him. By the time Castro took power, Mr. Rivera was 22 and
married. That year a daughter was born. The young family lived in a
small house Mr. Rivera had built himself.

Many
peasants opposed Batista. When he fled, they celebrated. But they
quickly recognized Castro’s ambitious plan to betray the revolution.
Ironically it was the takeover of a large sugar plantation called
Sierrita that confirmed their worst suspicions. Sierrita had been an
excellent employer. The owners paid well and treated workers with
dignity. Yet it was the first property seized in the area.

I
wondered why Mr. Rivera had objected, since Castro was promising
“social justice” for the poor. “I looked at that,” he said, referring to
the confiscation of Sierrita, “and I said to myself, if he can do that
to them, what future do I have?”

Mr. Rivera went into combat with other guajiros and alongside former Castro guerrillas who had fought in the Sierra Maestra to restore the constitutional democracy.

In
his 1989 book, “And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba,”
Cuban-born Nestor Carbonell uses the testimony of a former Castro
intelligence officer to describe how the Soviets crushed the Escambray
rebellion, which at one point numbered 8,000 insurgents. Castro had sent
12,000 soldiers and 80,000 militia to the region in late 1960, but
they’d made no headway. So in January 1961 the Kremlin stepped in. It
sent a contingent of Soviet coaches to a military compound near the city
of Trinidad. That compound became a “KGB redoubt,” Mr. Carbonell
explains. “From there, the Soviets secretly directed a major offensive
to quash the insurgency.”

The
operation mobilized 70,000 Cuban soldiers and 110,000 militia. They
“uprooted most of the peasant families living in the area, and dragged
them into concentration camps” in the far western part of the country.
More than 1,800 prisoners were executed, according to Mr. Carbonell.
“The obsessive goal was total extermination,” so the government forces
“destroyed crops, burned huts and contaminated springs as they
systematically combed the region for rebels or suspects.”

The U.S. made secretive attempts to get supplies to the resistance, but poor coordination hampered operations. When
President John F. Kennedy withdrew support for the Bay of Pigs Invasion
in April 1961, the U.S. also abandoned the Escambray.
The rebels were outnumbered and outgunned but they did not give up
easily. It wasn’t until 1965 that they were entirely defeated.

Mr.
Rivera was captured in 1963, spent 25 years in prison, and was exiled
in 1988. And the story of the Soviet campaign in Cuba to annihilate
farmers and peasants—who rejected the collectivization of agriculture
just as they had in Russia—never made it into popular culture.

miércoles, julio 01, 2015

As a Cuban exile, I feel betrayed by President Obama

Dear Pedro Pan Brothers and Sisters:
Pedro Pan member Carlos Eire has written an article regarding the
recent developments in the relations between the Obama administration
and the Castro Regime.Please see belowAs a Cuban exile, I feel betrayed by President Obamaby Carlos Eire NPR's MORNING EDITION SATURDAY - December 20th

I am furious, in pain, and deeply offended by those who laud this betrayal of the Cuban people as a great moment in history.My family and native land were destroyed by the brutal Castro regime. In 1959, as an 8-year-old, I listened to mobs shout “paredon!”
(to the firing squad!). I watched televised executions, and was
terrified by the incessant pressure to agree with a bearded dictator’s
ideals.

As
the months passed, relatives, friends, and neighbors began to
disappear. Some of them emerged from prison with detailed accounts of
the tortures they endured, but many never reappeared, their lives cut
short by firing squads.

I
also witnessed the government’s seizure of all private property – down
to the ring on one’s finger – and the collapse of my country’s economy. I
began to feel as if some monstrous force was trying to steal my mind
and soul through incessant indoctrination.By the age of 10, I was desperate to leave.

The next year, my parents sent me to the United States. I am one of the lucky 14,000 unaccompanied children rescued byOperation Pedro Pan.
Our plan to reunite within a few months was derailed by the policies of
the Castro regime, which intentionally prevented people like my
parents from leaving Cuba. Although my mother did manage to escape three
years later, my father remained stuck for the rest of his life. When he
died, 14 years after my departure, the Castro regime prevented me from
attending his funeral.

* * *

I am now a professor of history and religion at Yale University.

And
I long for justice. Instead of seeing Raúl Castro shaking President
Obama’s hand, I would like to see him, his brother, and all their
henchmen in a court room, being tried for crimes against humanity. I
also long for genuine freedom in Cuba. Instead of seeing his corrupt and
abusive regime rewarded with favors from the United States, I long for
the day when that regime is replaced by a genuine democracy with a free
market economy.

The
fact that I am a historian makes me see things differently, too. I earn
my living by analyzing texts and documents, sifting evidence, and
separating facts from lies and myths. I have been trained to read
between the lines, and to discern the hidden meaning in all rhetoric.While much attention has been paid to President Obama’s Cuba policy speech, hardly any has been paid to dictator Raúl Castro’s shorter speech, broadcast in Cuba at exactly the same time.In
his spiteful address, the unelected ruler of Cuba said that he would
accept President Obama’s gesture of good will “without renouncing a
single one of our principles.”What, exactly, are those principles?

Like
his brother Fidel, whose name he invoked, and like King Louis XIV of
France, whose name he dared not mention, Raúl speaks of himself as the
embodiment of the state he rules, as evidenced by his mention of “our
principles,” which assumes that all Cubans share his mindset. Raúl
claims that he is defending his nation’s “self-determination,”
“sovereignty,” and “independence,” and also dares to boast that his
total control of the Cuban economy should be admired as “social
justice.”In reality, he is defending is his role as absolute monarch.

Cubans haveno
freedom of speech or assembly. The press is tightly controlled, and
there is no freedom to establish political parties or labor unions.
Travel is strictly controlled, as is access to the Internet. There is no
economic freedom and no elections. According to the Associated Press, at least 8,410 dissidents were detained in 2014.These
are the principles that Raúl Castro is unwilling to renounce, which
have driven nearly 20 percent of Cuba’s population into exile.

Unfortunately,
these are also the very principles that President Obama ratified as
acceptable, which will govern Cuba for years to come.

Although
President Obama did acknowledge the lack of “freedom and openness” in
Cuba, and also hinted that Raúl Castro should loosen his grip on the
Cuban people, his rhetoric was as hollow as Raúl’s. He didn’t make any
demands for immediate, genuine reforms in Cuba. Equally hollow was his
reference to Cuba’s “civil society.” He made no mention of the constant
abuse heaped on Cuba’s non-violent dissidents, or of the fact that the
vast majority of them have pleaded with him to tighten rather than ease existing sanctions on the Castro regime.But
it was not just what was left unsaid that made his rhetoric hollow.
Some of the “facts” cited in support of his policy changes were
deliberate distortions of history that lay most of the blame for Cuba’s
problems on the United States.

Among
the most glaring of these falsehoods was the claim that “our sanctions
on Cuba have denied Cubans access to technology that has empowered
individuals around the globe.” The real culprit is not the embargo, but
the Castro regime itself, which actively prevents Cubans from accessing
the Internet. Cuba has been purchasing all sorts of cutting-edge
technology from other countries for use by its government, its military,
its spies, and its tourist industry.

If
studied carefully, what President Obama’s artful speech reveals is a
fixation on the failures of American foreign policy, and on his role as a
righteous reformer. Moreover, the speech is riddled with false
assumptions and wishful thinking.

Does
President Obama really believe that somehow, magically, an influx of
American diplomats, tourists, and dollars is going to force Raúl Castro
and his military junta to give up their beloved repressive “principles”?

Dream
on. President Obama knows all too well that the Castro regime has had
diplomatic and economic relations with the rest of the world and hosted
millions of tourists from democratic nations for many years. Such
engagement has brought no freedom or prosperity to the Cuban people. He
also knows that tourism has only served to create an apartheid state in
which foreigners enjoy privileges that are denied to the natives.

President
Obama’s disingenuous formulation of a new Cuba policy has been praised
by many around the world, but will be challenged by the legislative
branch of the government of these United States.

Thank God and the Constitution for that.

The
American people and the Cuban people deserve a much better future and a
much better interpretation of history than those offered to them in
President Obama’s shameful speech.

WHY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA MUST RETURN THE US. NAVAL BASE (GITMO) TO
CUBA .

Is it now the
right time and place in history for the Government of the United States of
America (USG) to return the US. Naval Base in Guantanamo, to the Government of
Cuba (GOC)?

First of all
there is a Legal Bi-Lateral Treaty Binding both Nations to the letter and spirit
of the Law. This is a simple but profound question to be
answered by Legal Scholars minds giving knowledgeable advice to the American
People, to be decided Onlyby the Congress
of the United States of America consenting or not about this sensitive matter
and then the President of the USA acting on it, approving or vetoing
it.

The USG must
only return GITMOto a legitimate
and sovereign democratically elected government by secret and universal vote by
all the Cuban People in the sland and abroad,

only, and only
then, when the Nation of Cuba is
absolutely Free and Democratichis people
united in close bond as one Nation, free of oppression and universally sovereign
in the eyes of all Free Nations, only then!

The time is not
yet in the horizon. The time to return GITMOis not now!
Simple as that. It will be a grave historical unforgivable error and disservice
to our present generation and generations to come, and obviously, paramount to
the Cuban People if the President of the USA wants to impose now his will and
mandate for political expediency or ideological reasons.

The President of
the USA must act accordingly to the legal framework under the Constitution.

He cannot and
should not act unilaterally in a legal matter of this magnitude without
Congressional Consent and the absolute support of his Nation.

This sensitive diplomatic
matter must not be solved by Executive Order

domingo, junio 22, 2014

FOR THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE EMBARGO VS. CUBA

The socialist national and internationalnews organizations have perpetuated the myth that the
US started the so called “embargo vs. Cuba” because of ideological differences when in reality it was a response to an all non remunerated confiscation by part of the then incipient Marxist State. The international
communist party always manages to obliterates facts and repeat false
arguments again and again until they becomes the truth as it was well taught by the master of propaganda Minister of Information of Hitler.
Cuba can buy any item in the open international market ( and indeed Cuba
buys American products through “third parties “ such as Panama...the
surgical tables at the hospital of the high officials of the Communist
Party say “made in USA”)... but the main problem that the Marxists have
with this embargo is not the embargo or blockade ( as communist like to
call it) itself but the problem that the suppliers require to be paid
and the Cuban Communist Party is broke ( big time !) due to their
socialist doctrine that has proven to be the greatest manufacture of
only one product: MISERY. Be my guest and read ahead... be informed !

Is U.S. Chamber Of Commerce President Thomas Donohue An Idiot? Or A Scoundrel?

U.S.
Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue was barely finished
calling for the further impoverishment of American workers (I.e.
"immigration reform") when he shows up as a guest of Cuba's Stalinist
regime and gives a speech at the University of Havana calling for a
further fleecing of American taxpayers (I.e. Ending the so-called Cuba
embargo.)

"For
years, the US Chamber of Commerce has demanded that our government
eliminate the commercial embargo on Cuba. It's time for a new approach,"
proclaimed Donohue this week to an
ovation from communist apparatchiks, some who in 1960 stormed into
almost 6000 U.S. Owned businesses (worth almost $ 2 billion at the time)
and stole them all at Soviet gunpoint.

A
few American business-owners resisted. One of these was Howard Anderson
who owned a filling stations and Jeep dealership (not a casino or
brothel, which were relatively rare in pre-Castro Cuba, by the way.)
I'll quote from Anderson v. Republic of Cuba, No. 01-28628 (Miami-Dade
Circuit Court, April 13, 2003). "In one final session of torture,
Castro's agents drained Howard Anderson's body of blood before sending
him to his death at the firing squad."

The Inter-American Law Review classifies Castro's mass burglary of U.S. Property as "the largest uncompensated taking of American property by a foreign government in history."

The
burglarized (and often brutalized) American owners filed those property
claims against Castro's regime with the U.S. Government. They're worth
$7 billion today--and must be settled before the so called embargo is
lifted.

This
settlement provision for lifting the embargo was codified into U.S. Law
in 1996 by the Helms-Burton act, which means only Congress can lift the
embargo, obviously after a vote. But the votes are not there.

All foreign trade with "Cuba" is still conducted exclusively with the Stalinist regime-no exceptions. In fact private property rights still do not exist in Cuba, much less an independent judiciary and the rule of law.

For over a decade the so-called U.S. Embargo, so disparaged by Thomas Donahue, has
mostly stipulated that Castro's Stalinist regime pay cash up front
through a third-party bank for all U.S. Agricultural products; no Ex-I'm
(U.S. Taxpayer) financing of such sales. And that's the catch with
Donahue's gracious hosts. They're desperate to abolish that provision.

Regarding the disconnect seen above between historic truth and Castroite propaganda, what we have here, amigos, is not a "failure to communicate." Instead it's perfect communication--
between Castro's propaganda ministry and the U.S. Media (and "business
leaders") to whom they issue press bureaus and visas, after careful
vetting. These latter amply live up to their side of the bargain,
"reporting" exactly what Castro wants them to report.

One
fine morning in February 2009 the Castro brothers woke up and decided
to freeze $1 billion that 600 foreign companies kept in Cuban bank
accounts. Another fine morning in April 2012 the Cuban regime arrested
the top officers of Britain-based Coral Capital that had invested $75
million in the Castro brothers' fiefdom and was planning four and
luxurious golf resorts. These hapless (greedy, unprincipled and stupid,
actually) businessmen find themselves with no more recourse to law than
the millions of Cubans and Americans who had their businesses and
savings stolen en masse in August of 1960 by Castro's gunmen.

After
all, Che Guevara who served as Cuba's "Finance Minister" during the
initial mass burglaries of Cuban and U.S. owned properties explained the
regime's legal guidelines very succinctly in January 1959, when he
served as chief hangman. "Judicial evidence is an archaic bourgeois detail. We execute (and jail and torture and steal) based on Revolutionary conviction."